Wireless connection integrated circuit (IC) having power island(s)

ABSTRACT

A radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC) operable to support wireless communications is provided. In one embodiment, the RF IC includes an advanced high-performance (AHB) bus matrix, a microprocessor core coupled to the AHB bus matrix, a plurality of processing modules wherein each processing module is operable to support one or more functions of the RF IC, and a plurality of power islands. Each power island is associated with one or more functions of the RF IC. This arrangement allows power islands coupled to the processing modules associated with the one or more functions associated with the power island to supply power for the processing modules associated with the one or more functions associated with the power island. Power from the power island(s) to the processing module(s) may be reduced or secured when the one or more functions associated with the power island is not required.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §119(e) to the following U.S. Provisional Patent Applicationswhich are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety andmade part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Application for allpurposes:

1. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/953,418, entitled “WIRELESSCONNECTION INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) HAVING POWER ISLAND(S),” filed Aug.1, 2007, expired.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to cellular wirelesscommunication systems, and more particularly to integrated circuits oftransceivers operating within such systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire linedcommunications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices.Such communication systems range from national and/or internationalcellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-homewireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, andhence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards.For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordancewith one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11,Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access(CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS),multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), radio frequencyidentification (RFID), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE),General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and/or variations thereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, home entertainment equipment, RFID reader, RFID tag, et ceteracommunicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communicationdevices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-pointcommunications), the participating wireless communication devices tunetheir receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g.,one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wirelesscommunication system or a particular RF frequency for some systems) andcommunicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications,each wireless communication device communicates directly with anassociated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or anassociated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wirelessnetwork) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connectionbetween the wireless communication devices, the associated base stationsand/or associated access points communicate with each other directly,via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, viathe Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

For each wireless communication device to participate in wirelesscommunications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiverand transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g.,a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communicationnetworks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver is coupled to anantenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediatefrequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The lownoise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna andamplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix theamplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert theamplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF)signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IFsignals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filteredsignals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filteredsignals in accordance with the particular wireless communicationstandard.

As is also known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, oneor more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The datamodulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordancewith a particular wireless communication standard. The one or moreintermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or morelocal oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifiesthe RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.

While transmitters generally include a data modulation stage, one ormore IF stages, and a power amplifier, the particular implementation ofthese elements is dependent upon the data modulation scheme of thestandard being supported by the transceiver. For example, if thebaseband modulation scheme is Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK), thedata modulation stage functions to convert digital words into quadraturemodulation symbols, which have constant amplitude and varying phases.The IF stage includes a phase locked loop (PLL) that generates anoscillation at a desired RF frequency, which is modulated based on thevarying phases produced by the data modulation stage. The phasemodulated RF signal is then amplified by the power amplifier inaccordance with a transmit power level setting to produce a phasemodulated RF signal.

As another example, if the data modulation scheme is 8-PSK (phase shiftkeying), the data modulation stage functions to convert digital wordsinto symbols having varying amplitudes and varying phases. The IF stageincludes a phase locked loop (PLL) that generates an oscillation at adesired RF frequency, which is modulated based on the varying phasesproduced by the data modulation stage. The phase modulated RF signal isthen amplified by the power amplifier in accordance with the varyingamplitudes to produce a phase and amplitude modulated RF signal.

As the desire for wireless communication devices to support multiplestandards continues, recent trends include the desire to integrate morefunctions on to a single chip. However, numerous functions increase theamount of power consumed by the IC. This has negative implications,particularly when all the integrated functions are not usedsimultaneously. Thus, better methods of managing power consumptionwithin a multiple function IC are desirable.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theSeveral views of the Drawing(s), the Detailed Description of theDrawings, and the claims. Other features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the invention made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communicationenvironment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another wireless communicationenvironment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationdevice in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an RF IC inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of an RFIC inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of an RFIC inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communicationenvironment that includes a communication device 10 communicating withone or more of a wireline non-real-time device 12, a wireline real-timedevice 14, a wireline non-real-time and/or real-time device 16, a basestation 18, a wireless non-real-time device 20, a wireless real-timedevice 22, and a wireless non-real-time and/or real-time device 24. Thecommunication device 10, which may be a personal computer, laptopcomputer, personal entertainment device, cellular telephone, personaldigital assistant, a game console, a game controller, and/or any othertype of device that communicates real-time and/or non-real-time signals,may be coupled to one or more of the wireline non-real-time device 12,the wireline real-time device 14, and the wireline non-real-time and/orreal-time device 16 via a wireless connection 28. The wirelessconnection 28 may be an Ethernet connection, a universal serial bus(USB) connection, a parallel connection (e.g., RS232), a serialconnection, a fire-wire connection, a digital subscriber loop (DSL)connection, and/or any other type of connection for conveying data.

The communication device 10 communicates RF non-real-time data 25 and/orRF real-time data 26 with one or more of the base station 18, thewireless non-real-time device 20, the wireless real-time device 22, andthe wireless non-real-time and/or real-time device 24 via one or morechannels in a frequency band (fb_(A)) that is designated for wirelesscommunications. For example, the frequency band may be 900 MHz, 1800MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, any ISM (industrial,scientific, and medical) frequency bands, and/or any other unlicensedfrequency band in the United States and/or other countries. As aparticular example, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA)utilizes an uplink frequency band of 1920-1980 MHz and a downlinkfrequency band of 2110-2170 MHz. As another particular example, EDGE,GSM and GPRS utilize an uplink transmission frequency band of 890-915MHz and a downlink transmission band of 935-960 MHz. As yet anotherparticular example, IEEE 802.11(g) utilizes a frequency band of 2.4 GHzfrequency band.

The wireless real-time device 22 and the wireline real-time device 14communicate real-time data that, if interrupted, would result in anoticeable adverse affect. For example, real-time data may include, butis not limited to, voice data, audio data, and/or streaming video data.Note that each of the real-time devices 14 and 22 may be a personalcomputer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant, a cellulartelephone, a cable set-top box, a satellite set-top box, a game console,a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver, a Bluetoothtransceiver, a frequency modulation (FM) tuner, a broadcast televisiontuner, a digital camcorder, and/or any other device that has a wirelineand/or wireless interface for conveying real-time data with anotherdevice.

The wireless non-real-time device 20 and the wireline non-real-timedevice 12 communicate non-real-time data that, if interrupted, would notgenerally result in a noticeable adverse affect. For example,non-real-time data may include, but is not limited to, text messages,still video images, graphics, control data, emails, and/or web browsing.Note that each of the non-real-time devices 14 and 22 may be a personalcomputer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant, a cellulartelephone, a cable set-top box, a satellite set-top box, a game console,a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver, a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a frequencymodulation (FM) tuner, a broadcast television tuner, a digitalcamcorder, and/or any other device that has a wireline and/or wirelessinterface for conveying real-time data with another device.

Depending on the real-time and non-real-time devices coupled to thecommunication unit 10, the communication unit 10 may participate incellular voice communications, cellular data communications, videocapture, video playback, audio capture, audio playback, image capture,image playback, voice over internet protocol (i.e., voice over IP),sending and/or receiving emails, web browsing, playing video gameslocally, playing video games via the internet, word processinggeneration and/or editing, spreadsheet generation and/or editing,database generation and/or editing, one-to-many communications, viewingbroadcast television, receiving broadcast radio, cable broadcasts,and/or satellite broadcasts.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another wireless communicationenvironment that includes a communication device 30 communicating withone or more of the wireline non-real-time device 12, the wirelinereal-time device 14, the wireline non-real-time and/or real-time device16, a wireless data device 32, a data base station 34, a voice basestation 36, and a wireless voice device 38. The communication device 30,which may be a personal computer, laptop computer, personalentertainment device, cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, agame console, a game controller, and/or any other type of device thatcommunicates data and/or voice signals, may be coupled to one or more ofthe wireline non-real-time device 12, the wireline real-time device 14,and the wireline non-real-time and/or real-time device 16 via thewireless connection 28. The communication device may include a multifunction RF IC 50 provided by embodiments of the present invention.Overall performance of the communication device may be enhanced byhaving improved better life through improved power management.

The communication device 30 communicates RF data 40 with the data device32 and/or the data base station 34 via one or more channels in a firstfrequency band (fb₁) that is designated for wireless communications. Forexample, the first frequency band may be 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz,2100 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, any ISM (industrial, scientific, and medical)frequency bands, and/or any other unlicensed frequency band in theUnited States and/or other countries.

The communication device 30 communicates RF voice 42 with the voicedevice 38 and/or the voice base station 36 via one or more channels in asecond frequency band (fb₂) that is designated for wirelesscommunications. For example, the second frequency band may be 900 MHz,1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, any ISM (industrial,scientific, and medical) frequency bands, and/or any other unlicensedfrequency band in the United States and/or other countries. In aparticular example, the first frequency band may be 900 MHz for EDGEdata transmissions while the second frequency band may the 1900 MHz and2100 MHz for WCDMA voice transmissions.

The voice device 38 and the voice base station 36 communicate voicesignals that, if interrupted, would result in a noticeable adverseaffect (e.g., a disruption in a communication). For example, the voicesignals may include, but are not limited to, digitized voice signals,digitized audio data, and/or streaming video data. Note that the voicedevice 38 may be a personal computer, laptop computer, personal digitalassistant, a cellular telephone, a game console, a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a frequencymodulation (FM) tuner, a broadcast television tuner, a digitalcamcorder, and/or any other device that has a wireless interface forconveying voice signals with another device.

The data device 32 and the data base station 34 communicate data that,if interrupted, would not generally result in a noticeable adverseaffect. For example, the data may include, but is not limited to, textmessages, still video images, graphics, control data, emails, and/or webbrowsing. Note that the data device 32 may be a personal computer,laptop computer, personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, acable set-top box, a satellite set-top box, a game console, a globalpositioning satellite (GPS) receiver, a wireless local area network(WLAN) transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a frequency modulation (FM)tuner, a broadcast television tuner, a digital camcorder, and/or anyother device that has a wireless interface for conveying data withanother device.

Depending on the devices coupled to the communication unit 30, thecommunication unit 30 may participate in cellular voice communications,cellular data communications, video capture, video playback, audiocapture, audio playback, image capture, image playback, voice overinternet protocol (i.e., voice over IP), sending and/or receivingemails, web browsing, playing video games locally, playing video gamesvia the internet, word processing generation and/or editing, spreadsheetgeneration and/or editing, database generation and/or editing,one-to-many communications, viewing broadcast television, receivingbroadcast radio, cable broadcasts, and/or satellite broadcasts.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationdevice 10 that includes a Voice Data RF (radio frequency) IC (integratedcircuit) 50, an antenna interface 52, memory 54, a display 56, a keypadand/or key board 58, at least one microphone 60, at least one speaker62, and a wireline port 64. The memory 54 may be NAND flash, NOR flash,SDRAM, and/or SRAM for storing data and/or instructions to facilitatecommunications of real-time and non-real-time data via the wireline port64 and/or via the antenna interface 52. In addition, or in thealternative, the memory 54 may store video files, audio files, and/orimage files for subsequent wireline or wireless transmission, forsubsequent display, for file transfer, and/or for subsequent editing.Accordingly, when the communication device supports storing, displaying,transferring, and/or editing of audio, video, and/or image files, thememory 54 would further store algorithms to support such storing,displaying, and/or editing. For example, the may include, but is notlimited to, file transfer algorithm, video compression algorithm, videodecompression algorithm, audio compression algorithm, audiodecompression algorithm, image compression algorithm, and/or imagedecompression algorithm, such as MPEG (motion picture expert group)encoding, MPEG decoding, JPEG point picture expert group) encoding, JPEGdecoding, MP3 encoding, and MP3 decoding.

For outgoing voice communications, the at least one microphone 60receives an audible voice signal, amplifies it, and provide theamplified voice signal to the Voice Data RF IC 50. The Voice Data RF IC50 processes the amplified voice signal into a digitized voice signalusing one or more audio processing schemes (e.g., pulse code modulation,audio compression, etc.). The Voice Data RF IC 50 may transmit thedigitized voice signal via the wireless port 64 to the wirelinereal-time device 14 and/or to the wireline non-real-time and/orreal-time device 16. In addition to, or in the alternative, the VoiceData RF IC 50 may transmit the digitized voice signal as RF real-timedata 26 to the wireless real-time device 22, and/or to the wirelessnon-real-time and/or real-time device 24 via the antenna interface 52.Voice Data RF IC 50 may be a multi function IC as provided byembodiments of the present invention. RF IC 50 may improve overalldevice performance by power management features provided by embodimentsof the present invention.

For outgoing real-time audio and/or video communications, the Voice DataRF IC 50 retrieves an audio and/or video file from the memory 54. TheVoice Data RF IC 50 may decompress the retrieved audio and/or video fileinto digitized streaming audio and/or video. The Voice Data RF IC 50 maytransmit the digitized streaming audio and/or video via the wirelessport 64 to the wireline real-time device 14 and/or to the wirelinenon-real-time and/or real-time device 16. In addition to, or in thealternative, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may transmit the digitizedstreaming audio and/or video as RF real-time data 26 to the wirelessreal-time device 22, and/or to the wireless non-real-time and/orreal-time device 24 via the antenna interface 52. Note that the VoiceData RF IC 50 may mix a digitized voice signal with a digitizedstreaming audio and/or video to produce a mixed digitized signal thatmay be transmitted via the wireline port 64 and/or via the antennainterface 52.

In a playback mode of the communication device 10, the Voice Data RF IC50 retrieves an audio and/or video file from the memory 54. The VoiceData RF IC 50 may decompress the retrieved audio and/or video file intodigitized streaming audio and/or video. The Voice Data RF IC 50 mayconvert an audio portion of the digitized streaming audio and/or videointo analog audio signals that are provided to the at least one speaker62. In addition, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may convert a video portion ofthe digitized streaming audio and/or video into analog or digital videosignals that are provided to the display 56, which may be a liquidcrystal (LCD) display, a plasma display, a digital light project (DLP)display, and/or any other type of portable video display.

For incoming RF voice communications, the antenna interface 52 receives,via an antenna, inbound RF real-time data 26 (e.g., inbound RF voicesignals) and provides them to the Voice Data RF IC 50. The Voice Data RFIC 50 processes the inbound RF voice signals into digitized voicesignals. The Voice Data RF IC 50 may transmit the digitized voicesignals via the wireless port 64 to the wireline real-time device 14and/or to the wireline non-real-time and/or real-time device 16. Inaddition to, or in the alternative, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may convertthe digitized voice signals into an analog voice signals and provide theanalog voice signals to the speaker 62.

The Voice Data RF IC 50 may receive digitized voice-audio-&/or-videosignals from the wireline connection 28 via the wireless port 64 or mayreceive RF signals via the antenna interface 52, where the Voice Data RFIC 50 recovers the digitized voice-audio-&/or-video signals from the RFsignals. The Voice Data RF IC 50 may then compress the receiveddigitized voice-audio-&/or-video signals to producevoice-audio-&/or-video files and store the files in memory 54. In thealternative, or in addition to, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may convert thedigitized voice-audio-&/or-video signals into analogvoice-audio-&/or-video signals and provide them to the speaker 62 and/ordisplay.

For outgoing non-real-time data communications, the keypad/keyboard 58(which may be a keypad, keyboard, touch screen, voice activated datainput, and/or any other mechanism for inputted data) provides inputteddata (e.g., emails, text messages, web browsing commands, etc.) to theVoice Data RF IC 50. The Voice Data RF IC 50 converts the inputted datainto a data symbol stream using one or more data modulation schemes(e.g., QPSK, 8-PSK, etc.). The Voice Data RF IC 50 converts the datasymbol stream into RF non-real-time data signals 24 that are provided tothe antenna interface 52 for subsequent transmission via the antenna. Inaddition to, or in the alternative, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may providethe inputted data to the display 56. As another alternative, the VoiceData RF IC 50 may provide the inputted data to the wireline port 64 fortransmission to the wireline non-real-time data device 12 and/or thenon-real-time and/or real-time device 16.

For incoming non-real-time communications (e.g., text messaging, imagetransfer, emails, web browsing), the antenna interface 52 receives, viaan antenna, inbound RF non-real-time data signals 24 (e.g., inbound RFdata signals) and provides them to the Voice Data RF IC 50. The VoiceData RF IC 50 processes the inbound RF data signals into data signals.The Voice Data RF IC 50 may transmit the data signals via the wirelessport 64 to the wireline non-real-time device 12 and/or to the wirelinenon-real-time and/or real-time device 16. In addition to, or in thealternative, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may convert the data signals intoanalog data signals and provide the analog data signals to an analoginput of the display 56 or the Voice Data RF IC 50 may provide the datasignals to a digital input of the display 56.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication device 10 that includes the Voice Data RF IC 50, theantenna interface 52, the memory 54, the keypad/keyboard 58, the atleast one speaker 62, the at least one microphone 60, and the display56. The Voice Data RF IC 50 includes a baseband processing module 80, aradio frequency (RF) section 82, an interface module 84, an audio codec86, a keypad interface 88, a memory interface 90, a display interface92, an advanced high-performance (AHB) bus matrix 94, and power islands97A-97F. The baseband processing module 80 may be a single processingdevice or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing devicemay be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/oroperational instructions. The processing module 80 may have anassociated memory and/or memory element, which may be a single memorydevice, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of theprocessing module 80. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory,random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that when the processing module 80implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/ormemory element storing the corresponding operational instructions may beembedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.Further note that, the memory element stores, and the processing module80 executes, hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding toat least some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in FIGS. 1-8.

The baseband processing module 80 converts an outbound voice signal 96into an outbound voice symbol stream 98 in accordance with one or moreexisting wireless communication standards, new wireless communicationstandards, modifications thereof, and/or extensions thereof (e.g., GSM,AMPS, digital AMPS, CDMA, etc.). The baseband processing module 80 mayperform one or more of scrambling, encoding, constellation mapping,modulation, frequency spreading, frequency hopping, beam forming,space-time-block encoding, space-frequency-block encoding, and/ordigital baseband to IF conversion to convert the outbound voice signal96 into the outbound voice symbol stream 98. Depending on the desiredformatting of the outbound voice symbol stream 98, the basebandprocessing module 80 may generate the outbound voice symbol stream 98 asCartesian coordinates (e.g., having an in-phase signal component and aquadrature signal component to represent a symbol), as Polar coordinates(e.g., having a phase component and an amplitude component to representa symbol), or as hybrid coordinates as disclosed in co-pending patentapplication entitled HYBRID RADIO FREQUENCY TRANSMITTER, having a filingdate of Mar. 24, 2006, and an application Ser. No. 11/388,822, andco-pending patent application entitled PROGRAMMABLE HYBRID TRANSMITTER,having a filing date of Jul. 26, 2006, and an application Ser. No.11/494,682.

The interface module 84 conveys the outbound voice symbol stream 98 tothe RF section 82 when the Voice Data RF IC 50 is in a voice mode. Thevoice mode may be activated by the user of the communication device 10by initiating a cellular telephone call, by receiving a cellulartelephone call, by initiating a walkie-talkie type call, by receiving awalkie-talkie type call, by initiating a voice record function, and/orby another voice activation selection mechanism.

The RF section 82 converts the outbound voice symbol stream 98 into anoutbound RF voice signal 114 in accordance with the one or more existingwireless communication standards, new wireless communication standards,modifications thereof, and/or extensions thereof (e.g., GSM, AMPS,digital AMPS, CDMA, etc.). In one embodiment, the RF section 82 receivesthe outbound voice symbol stream 98 as Cartesian coordinates. In thisembodiment, the RF section 82 mixes the in-phase components of theoutbound voice symbol stream 98 with an in-phase local oscillation toproduce a first mixed signal and mixes the quadrature components of theoutbound voice symbol stream 98 to produce a second mixed signal. The RFsection 82 combines the first and second mixed signals to produce anup-converted voice signal. The RF section 82 then amplifies theup-converted voice signal to produce the outbound RF voice signal 114,which it provides to the antenna interface 52. Note that further poweramplification may occur between the output of the RF section 82 and theinput of the antenna interface 52.

For incoming voice signals, the RF section 82 receives an inbound RFvoice signal 112 via the antenna interface 52. The RF section 82converts the inbound RF voice signal 112 into an inbound voice symbolstream 100. In one embodiment, the RF section 82 extracts Cartesiancoordinates from the inbound RF voice signal 112 to produce the inboundvoice symbol stream 100. In another embodiment, the RF section 82extracts Polar coordinates from the inbound RF voice signal 112 toproduce the inbound voice symbol stream 100. In yet another embodiment,the RF section 82 extracts hybrid coordinates from the inbound RF voicesignal 112 to produce the inbound voice symbol stream 100. The interfacemodule 84 provides the inbound voice symbol stream 100 to the basebandprocessing module 80 when the Voice Data RF IC 50 is in the voice mode.

The baseband processing module 80 converts the inbound voice symbolstream 100 into an inbound voice signal 102. The baseband processingmodule 80 may perform one or more of descrambling, decoding,constellation demapping, modulation, frequency spreading decoding,frequency hopping decoding, beam forming decoding, space-time-blockdecoding, space-frequency-block decoding, and/or IF to digital basebandconversion to convert the inbound voice symbol stream 100 into theinbound voice signal 102, which is placed on the AHB bus matrix 94.

In one embodiment, the outbound voice signal 96 is received from theaudio codec section 86 via the AHB bus 94. The audio codec section 86 iscoupled to the at least one microphone 60 to receive an analog voiceinput signal there from. The audio codec section 86 converts the analogvoice input signal into a digitized voice signal that is provided to thebaseband processing module 80 as the outbound voice signal 96. The audiocodec section 86 may perform an analog to digital conversion to producethe digitized voice signal from the analog voice input signal, mayperform pulse code modulation (PCM) to produce the digitized voicesignal, and/or may compress a digital representation of the analog voiceinput signal to produce the digitized voice signal.

The audio codec section 86 is also coupled to the at least one speaker62. In one embodiment the audio codec section 86 processes the inboundvoice signal 102 to produce an analog inbound voice signal that issubsequently provided to the at least one speaker 62. The audio codecsection 86 may process the inbound voice signal 102 by performing adigital to analog conversion, by PCM decoding, and/or by decompressingthe inbound voice signal 102.

For an outgoing data communication (e.g., email, text message, webbrowsing, and/or non-real-time data), the baseband processing module 80receives outbound data 108 from the keypad interface 88 and/or thememory interface 90. The baseband processing module 80 converts outbounddata 108 into an outbound data symbol stream 110 in accordance with oneor more existing wireless communication standards, new wirelesscommunication standards, modifications thereof, and/or extensionsthereof (e.g., EDGE, GPRS, etc.). The baseband processing module 80 mayperform one or more of scrambling, encoding, constellation mapping,modulation, frequency spreading, frequency hopping, beam forming,space-time-block encoding, space-frequency-block encoding, and/ordigital baseband to IF conversion to convert the outbound data 108 intothe outbound data symbol stream 110. Depending on the desired formattingof the outbound data symbol stream 110, the baseband processing module80 may generate the outbound data symbol stream 110 as Cartesiancoordinates (e.g., having an in-phase signal component and a quadraturesignal component to represent a symbol), as Polar coordinates (e.g.,having a phase component and an amplitude component to represent asymbol), or as hybrid coordinates as disclosed in co-pending patentapplication entitled HYBRID RADIO FREQUENCY TRANSMITTER, having a filingdate of Mar. 24, 2006, and an application Ser. No. 11/388,822, andco-pending patent application entitled PROGRAMMABLE HYBRID TRANSMITTER,having a filing date of Jul. 26, 2006, and an application Ser. No.11/494,682. In addition to, or in the alternative of, the outbound data108 may be provided to the display interface 92 such that the outbounddata 108, or a representation thereof, may be displayed on the display56.

The interface module 84 conveys the outbound data symbol stream 110 tothe RF section 82 when the Voice Data RF IC 50 is in a data mode. Thedata mode may be activated by the user of the communication device 10 byinitiating a text message, by receiving a text message, by initiating aweb browser function, by receiving a web browser response, by initiatinga data file transfer, and/or by another data activation selectionmechanism.

The RF section 82 converts the outbound data symbol stream 110 into anoutbound RF data signal 118 in accordance with the one or more existingwireless communication standards, new wireless communication standards,modifications thereof, and/or extensions thereof (e.g., EDGE, GPRS,etc.). The RF section 82 combines the first and second mixed signals toproduce an up-converted data signal. The RF section 82 then amplifiesthe up-converted data signal to produce the outbound RF data signal 118,which it provides to the antenna interface 52. Note that further poweramplification may occur between the output of the RF section 82 and theinput of the antenna interface 52.

For incoming data communications, the RF section 82 receives an inboundRF data signal 116 via the antenna interface 52. The RF section 82converts the inbound RF data signal 116 into an inbound data symbolstream 104.

The baseband processing module 80 converts the inbound data symbolstream 104 into inbound data 106. The baseband processing module 80 mayperform one or more of descrambling, decoding, constellation demapping,modulation, frequency spreading decoding, frequency hopping decoding,beam forming decoding, space-time-block decoding, space-frequency-blockdecoding, and/or IF to digital baseband conversion to convert theinbound data symbol stream 104 into the inbound data 106, which isplaced on the AHB bus matrix 94.

In one embodiment, the display interface 92 retrieves the inbound data106 from the AHB bus matrix 94 and provides it, or a representationthereof, to the display 56. In another embodiment, the memory interface90 retrieves the inbound data 106 from the AHG bus matrix 94 andprovides it to the memory 54 for storage therein.

Power islands 97A-97F, which includes one or more of a gateable powersupply lines (e.g., Vdd), one or more gateable power return lines (e.g.,Vss), one or more gateable and/or adjustable DC power supplies, and/orone or more gateable or adjustable clock circuits, may be associatedwith a particular function of the IC. For example, the display interfacemay be on a separate power island 97A such that when the video orgraphics processing is not required, the display interface 92 does notreceive power. Similarly, audio codec section 86 may be on a separatepower island 97B such that when the audio processing is not required,the audio codec section 86 does not receive power. The power islands97A-97F may be turned off by removing Vdd and/or by disabling a clockfor the particular function. Power islands may not be required to befully disabled, but placed into a sleep mode, where Vdd is loweredand/or the clock rate is lowered. For example, in a GSM sleep mode, alow frequency crystal oscillator (e.g., 36 KHz) may be used to generatethe clocking for the GSM transceiver. In this mode, a high frequencyoscillator (e.g., 24 MHz) is occasionally enabled to calibrate the lowerfrequency oscillator. Lower frequency oscillator consumes less power butis less accurate than the higher frequency clock. Note that when thehigh frequency oscillator is enabled for operations other thancalibrating the low frequency oscillator, the lower frequency oscillatormay be disabled.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication device 10 that includes the Voice Data RF IC 50, theantenna interface 52, the memory 54, the keypad/keyboard 58, the atleast one speaker 62, the at least one microphone 60, the display 56,and at least one of: a SIM (Security Identification Module) card 122, apower management (PM) IC 126, a second display 130, a SD (SecureDigital) card or MMC (Multi Media Card) 134, a coprocessor IC 138, aWLAN transceiver 142, a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver 144, an FM tuner 148,a GPS receiver 154, an image sensor 158 (e.g., a digital camera), avideo sensor 162 (e.g., a camcorder), and a TV tuner 166. The Voice DataRF IC 50 includes the baseband processing module 80, the RF section 82,the interface module 84, the audio codec 86, the keypad interface 88,the memory interface 90, the display interface 92, the advancedhigh-performance (AHB) bus matrix 94, a processing module 125, and oneor more of: a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) interface 120,power management (PM) interface 124, a second display interface 128, asecure digital input/output (SDIO) interface 132, a coprocessorinterface 136, a WLAN interface 140, a Bluetooth interface 146, an FMinterface 150, a GPS interface 152, a camera interface 156, a camcorderinterface 160, a TV interface 164, and a Universal Serial Bus (USB)interface 165. While not shown, the Voice Data RF IC 50 may furtherincluded one or more of a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter(UART) interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix 94, a Serial PeripheralInterface (SPI) interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix 94, an I2Sinterface coupled to the AHB bus matrix 94, and a pulse code modulation(PCM) interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix 94.

The processing module 125 may be a single processing device or aplurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be amicroprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/oroperational instructions. The processing module 125 may have anassociated memory and/or memory element, which may be a single memorydevice, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of theprocessing module 125. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory,random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that when the processing module125 implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/ormemory element storing the corresponding operational instructions may beembedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.Further note that, the memory element stores, and the processing module125 executes, hard coded and/or operational instructions correspondingto at least some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in the FIGS.1-8.

In this embodiment, the Voice Data RF IC 50 includes one or more of aplurality of interfaces that enable the communication device 10 toinclude one or more of a plurality of additional circuits. For example,the communication device 10 may be a cellular telephone that providesvoice, data, and at least one other service via the Voice Data RF IC 50,which, in this instance, is a cellular telephone IC. An example ofanother service includes WLAN access via a WLAN transceiver to supportvoice over IP communications, internet access, etc. Another serviceexample includes Bluetooth access via a Bluetooth transceiver to supporta Bluetooth wireless headset, file transfers, and other piconetservices.

These additional circuits may not require power at all times. To reducepower consumption and extend battery life, power islands may be used tosupply power to these additional circuits only when needed. The powermanagement interface 124 may be used to direct power to these additionalcircuits as required through the bus matrix. The power islandsassociated with the additional circuits may be turned off by removingVdd and/or by disabling a clock for the particular function. Powerislands may not be required to be fully disabled, but placed into asleep mode, where Vdd is lowered and/or the clock rate is lowered. Forexample, in a GSM sleep mode, a low frequency crystal oscillator (e.g.,36 KHz) may be used to generate the clocking for the GSM transceiver. Inthis mode, a high frequency oscillator (e.g., 24 MHz) is occasionallyenabled to calibrate the lower frequency oscillator. Lower frequencyoscillator consumes less power but is less accurate than the higherfrequency clock. Note that when the high frequency oscillator is enabledfor operations other than calibrating the low frequency oscillator, thelower frequency oscillator may be disabled.

For wireline connectivity to another device, the Voice Data RF IC 50 mayinclude a USB interface 165, an SPI interface, and I2S interface, and/oranother other type of wired interface. In this instance, file transfersare easily supported by the wireline connectivity and can be managed bythe processing module 125. Further, video games may be downloaded to thecommunication device 10 via the wireline connectivity and subsequentlyplayed as administered by the processing module 125. Alternatively, thewireline connectivity provides coupling to a game console such that thecommunication device 10 acts as the display and/or controller of thevideo game.

With the various interface options of the Voice Data RF IC 50, thecommunication device 10 may function as a personal entertainment deviceto playback audio files, video files, image files, to record images, torecord video, to record audio, to watch television, to track location,to listen to broadcast FM radio, etc. Such personal entertainmentfunctions would be administered primarily by the processing module 125.

With the inclusion of one or more display interfaces 92 and 128, thecommunication device may include multiple displays 56 and 130. Thedisplays 56 and 130 may be a liquid crystal (LCD) display, a plasmadisplay, a digital light project (DLP) display, and/or any other type ofportable video display. Note that the display interfaces 92 and 128 maybe an LCD interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI),and/or other type of interface for supporting the particular display 56or 130.

The Voice Data RF IC 50 includes security interface options to protectthe data stored in the communication device and/or to insure use of thecommunication device is by an authorized user. For example, the VoiceData RF IC 50 may include the USIM interface 120 and/or the SDIOinterface 132 for interfacing with a SIM card, a Secure Data card and/ora multi media card.

Of the various interfaces that may be included on the Voice Data RF IC50, I2S is an industry standard 3-wire interface for streaming stereoaudio between devices and the PCM interface is a serial interface usedto transfer speech data. Of the external components of the communicationdevice 10 with respect to the IC 50, a Secure Digital (SD) is a flashmemory (non-volatile) memory card format used in portable devices,including digital cameras and handheld computers. SD cards are based onthe older Multi-Media-Card (MMC) format, but most are physicallyslightly thicker than MMC cards. A (SIM) card that stores usersubscriber information, authentication information and provides storagespace for text messages and USIM stores a long-term preshared secret keyK, which is shared with the Authentication Center (AuC) in the network.The USIM also verifies a sequence number that must be within a rangeusing a window mechanism to avoid replay attacks, and is in charge ofgenerating the session keys CK and IK to be used in the confidentialityand integrity algorithms of the KASUMI block cipher in UMTS.

Voice data RF IC 50 as shown in FIG. 6 includes power island circuitry127 which may take the form of a power bus matrix that provides power tospecific functions such as various interfaces, UART198, MIPI192, USB194,SDIO132, I2S196, SPI200, USIM120, PM124, camera interface 156, PCM202video Kodak 204, as well as data base band processing module 172, voicebase band processing module 170, microprocessor core 190, memoryinterface 90, RF Section 82 and interface module 84. There may bespecific times when any or all of these functions may not be requiredand embodiments of the present invention are a power island circuitry127 in the form of a power bus to individually remove power from thosemodules or functions not requiring power in order to extend the batterylife associated with a communication device 10 having voice data RFIC 50and thus, enhance the overall performance of the communication device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of the RFIC 50that includes the RF section 82, the interface module 84, the AHB busmatrix 94, the power island circuitry 127, a data baseband processingmodule 172, a voice baseband processing module 170, a processor core190, memory interface 90, and a plurality of interface modules 120, 124,132, 156, and 192-204. The interface modules may include one or more ofa UART, MIPI, USB, SDIO, I2S, SPI, USIM, PM, camera, PCM, and videocodec interface.

In this embodiment, the power island circuitry 127 includes a pluralityof controllable, or gateable, power lines and/or clock lines to each ofthe various modules of RFIC 50. In this instance, each of the modulesmay be individually controlled with respect to power to reduce theoverall power consumption of the RFIC 50. For example, the power islandcircuitry 127 may include one or more power supplies (e.g., DC to DCconverters, linear regulators, etc.) to generate one or more powersupply voltages. In addition, the power island circuitry 127 may includeone or more clock circuits (e.g., crystal oscillator, phase locked loop,counter, frequency divider, frequency multiplier, etc.) to generate oneor more clock signals. In this example, for a given module 82, 84, 90,107, 172, 190, 120, 124, 132, 156, and 192-204, the power islandcircuitry 127 may disable a power line coupled to the module (e.g., opena transistor to remove power from the module); may lower the powersupply voltage; may disable a clock signal; and/or may lower the rate ofa clock signal.

The decision of how and when to adjust power and/or a clock signal to amodule may be done a priori based on known operating states of thedevice. For example, in a first mode, the data baseband processingmodule 172 may not be used this is disabled; in a second mode, the databaseband processing module 172 is not be used, but is put into a sleepmode; etc. This information may be stored in look up table and accessedwhen the device changes modes of operation. Alternatively, the decisionof how and when to adjust the power and/or a clock signal may beautomatically by determining at a given time, the status of use of thevarious modules. Based on the status of use, the power and/or clocksignals are adjusted and/or disabled for a given module.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic block diagram of voice data RF IC thatincludes include Master Components 702 and Slave Components 704 whereall the components may be coupled to an AHB Bus 706. Master Components702 include various ARMs, 708 through 710 as well a multiple DSPs shownas DSP 712 and DSP 714. Other components may include Modem 716, VideoProcessing Module 718, LCD Module 720 operably coupled to Display 724and RF Processing Module 722. Slave Components 704 may includeinterfaces to resources such as Memory Interface 726 to Memory 732 orpower interface/power island circuitry 734 to provide power islands thatroute power to specific components such as various Master Components 702or Slave Components 704. Power island circuitry 734 and power interface734 may direct power to only those components that are required in orderto improve overall performance and power management of the IC.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an RFIC 800 that includes RFprocessing module 802, DSP module 804, ARM 806, ARM 808, and ROM 810. Inthis example ROM 810 is not always required by DSP 804. Therefore powerislands may be utilized to withdraw power to ROM 810 to conserveinternal resources. This may be done by adjusting the voltage VDD orusing a switch (i.e. transistor 812) to remove power from ROM 810 whennot required. Power provided by the power islands may be turned off byremoving Vdd and/or by disabling a clock for the particular function.Power islands may not be required to be fully disabled, but placed intoa sleep mode, where Vdd is lowered and/or the clock rate is lowered.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “coupled to” and/or “coupling” and/or includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, theintervening item does not modify the information of a signal but mayadjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As mayfurther be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element iscoupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirectcoupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As mayeven further be used herein, the term “operable to” indicates that anitem includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s),etc., to perform one or more its corresponding functions and may furtherinclude inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may stillfurther be used herein, the term “associated with”, includes directand/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term “comparesfavorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items,signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when thedesired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude thansignal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude ofsignal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude ofsignal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that thefunctional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules andcomponents herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discretecomponents, application specific integrated circuits, processorsexecuting appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

1. A radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC) operable to supportwireless communications, comprising: a plurality of processing moduleswherein each processing module is operable to support one or morefunctions of the RF IC, wherein the plurality of processing modulesinclude: a voice baseband processing module; a data baseband processingmodule; a RF section; and an interface module coupled to exchange symbolstreams between the voice baseband processing module and the RF sectionwhen the RF IC is in a voice mode and between the data basebandprocessing module and the RF section when the RF IC is in a data mode;and a plurality of power islands, wherein: a power island of theplurality of power islands is associated with one or more functions, aprocessing module of the plurality of processing modules performs theone or more functions; and the power island provides power to theprocessing module based on activation of the one or more functions suchthat power is reduced when one of the one or more functions associatedwith the power island is not required.
 2. The RF IC of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of processing modules further comprise at least one of: agraphics processing module; a video processing module; at least onedigital signal processor; at least one ARM; and a display interfacemodule.
 3. The RF IC of claim 1, wherein the power island is disabledwhen each the one or more functions is not required.
 4. The RF IC ofclaim 1, wherein the power island is placed in a sleep mode when each ofthe one or more functions is not required.
 5. The RF IC of claim 1,wherein the power island reduces a supply voltage when the one or morefunctions are not required.
 6. The RF IC of claim 1 wherein theplurality of processing modules further comprises at least one of: aliquid crystal display (LCD) interface; and a mobile industry processorinterface (MIPI).
 7. The RF IC of claim 1 further comprises: an advancedhigh-performance (AHB) bus matrix coupled to the plurality of processingmodules.
 8. The RF IC of claim 7 further comprises a microprocessor corecoupled to the AHB bus matrix.
 9. The RF IC of claim 7 further comprisesat least one of: a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) coupled tothe AHB bus matrix; a universal serial bus (USB) interface coupled tothe AHB bus matrix; an external memory interface coupled to the AHB busmatrix; a secure digital input/output (SDIO) interface coupled to theAHB bus matrix; an I2S interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix; aUniversal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) interface coupled tothe AHB bus matrix; a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) interfacecoupled to the AHB bus matrix; a power management interface; a universalsubscriber identity module (USIM) interface coupled to the AHB busmatrix; a camera interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix; and a pulsecode modulation (PCM) interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix.
 10. TheRF IC of claim 7 further comprises a video codec coupled to the AHB busmatrix.
 11. A radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC) operable tosupport wireless communications, comprising: an advancedhigh-performance (AHB) bus matrix; a microprocessor core coupled to theAHB bus matrix; a plurality of processing modules wherein eachprocessing module is operable to support one or more functions of the RFIC, wherein the plurality of processing modules includes: a voicebaseband processing module; a data baseband processing module; a RFsection; and an interface module coupled to exchange symbol streamsbetween the voice baseband processing module and the RF section when theRF IC is in a voice mode and between the data baseband processing moduleand the RF section when the RF IC is in a data mode; and a plurality ofpower islands, wherein: a power island of the plurality of power islandsis associated with one or more functions, a processing module of theplurality of processing modules performs the one or more functions; andthe power island provides power to the processing module based onactivation of the one or more functions such that power is reduced whenone of the one or more functions associated with the power island is notrequired; a data input interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix, whereinthe data input interface receives outbound data; and a display interfacecoupled to the AHB bus matrix, wherein the display interface providesinbound data to an off-IC display.
 12. The RF IC of claim 11 furthercomprises at least one of: a video codec coupled to the AHB bus matrix;and a direct memory access (DMA) coupled to the AHB bus matrix.
 13. TheRF IC of claim 11 further comprises an arbitration module coupled to theAHB bus matrix and to a plurality of interface modules, wherein thearbitration module arbitrates access to the AHB bus matrix among theplurality of interface modules.
 14. The RF IC of claim 13 furthercomprises a graphics engine coupled to the arbitration module, whereinthe arbitration module arbitrates access to the AHB bus matrix among theplurality of interface modules and the graphics engine.
 15. The RF IC ofclaim 11 further comprises a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI)coupled to the AHB bus matrix.
 16. The RF IC of claim 15 furthercomprises a demultiplexer coupled to the AHB bus matrix and theplurality of processing modules, wherein the demultiplexer couples oneof the plurality of processing modules to the AHB bus matrix based on acontrol signal.
 17. The RF IC of claim 11 further comprises a secondadvanced high-performance (AHB) bus; a camera interface coupled to thesecond AHB bus; a liquid crystal display interface coupled to the secondAHB bus; a security engine coupled to the second AHB bus; and a securityboot read only memory coupled to the second AHB bus. an I2S interfacecoupled to the AHB bus matrix; a Universal AsynchronousReceiver-Transmitter (UART) interface coupled to the AHB bus matrix; aSerial Peripheral Interface (SPI) interface coupled to the AHB busmatrix; a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) interface coupledto the AHB bus matrix; a real time clock; and a general purposeinput/output (GPIO) interface.
 18. The RF IC of claim 11, wherein thedata input interface comprises at least one of: a keypad interface: acamera interface; and a video interface.
 19. The RF IC of claim 11,wherein the display interface comprises at least one of: a liquidcrystal display interface; and a mobile industry processor interface(MIPI).